[StBernard] Survivor listed on Katrina memorial

[Westley Annis]

Survivor listed on Katrina memorial
by Paul Rioux, The Times-Picayune 
Wednesday February 27, 2008, 7:44 PM

TIMES-PICAYUNE FILE PHOTO/TED JACKSON
Uriel Little jokes that he had to pinch himself when he saw his name etched
on a granite monument listing the names of more than 130 people killed by
Hurricane Katrina in St. Bernard Parish. 

"Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated," quipped Little, 76, a
former St. Bernard street department worker who evacuated before Katrina. 

Parish officials have fielded complaints about misspelled names after the
hastily erected monument was unveiled on Katrina's first anniversary in
2006. But this is the first reported case of mistaken identity among the 132
people listed as having died during the storm and its aftermath. 

"They can leave my name on there if they want," said Little, who lives at
St. Margaret's Daughters Nursing Home in the Bywater. "It doesn't bother me.
I know that I'm still alive, and that's what counts." 

But parish officials say they intend to correct the error, especially after
learning that as many as five other people listed on the monument might
still be alive. 

"Misspelled names are one thing, but if we have a living person listed as
dead, that's something else," said Karen Turni Bazile, executive assistant
for Parish President Craig Taffaro. "It's not right to leave it like that." 

Parish officials said the mistakes on the memorial, which sits near a
13-foot-tall steel crucifix pounded into the shallows of the Mississippi
River-Gulf Outlet at Shell Beach, reflect the monumental task of trying to
identify Katrina's dead after their relatives were scattered across the
country. 

"It's not as simple as people might think," said Bryan Bertucci, the
parish's coroner. "I spent months researching this and never could come up
with a list that was 100 percent complete and accurate." 

Compounding the problem, Bertucci said the list he compiled was apparently
not even used in creating the memorial. 

He said the monument names six people, including Little, who are not on his
master list of deaths, raising the possibility that as many as five other
Katrina survivors were mistakenly listed among the dead. 

Bertucci also said 13 people he confirmed as Katrina victims are not on the
monument, which was erected by the administration of former Parish President
Henry "Junior" Rodriguez. 

"I don't know what list they used, but it couldn't have been mine," Bertucci
said. 

Charlie Reppel, Rodriguez's former chief of staff, said parish officials did
their best to verify the names of the dead as they worked quickly to
complete the monument in time for the storm's first anniversary. 

"We did as much due diligence as we could," he said, adding that he believed
Bertucci's list was used to create the monument. "We adjusted it about four
months after it was dedicated to add a few names of people who were left
off." 

Bazile said anyone seeking to report an incorrect spelling or other error
can call her at (504) 874-0980 or e-mail her at kbazile at sbpg.net. 

It's unclear how Little's name came to be added to the monument. His sister,
Sylvia Costanza, said her brother's name appeared on lists of Katrina's dead
printed in local newspapers. 

"I called the parish to tell them that he was alive, but his name kept
popping up on these lists," she said. 

Little, who was living in the Hannan Manor elderly living center in Meraux,
evacuated to Texas with relatives before Katrina. He lived at an assisted
living center in Marrero until he moved to St. Margaret's about a month ago,
Costanza said. 

News of Little's prematurely documented demise was first reported by the
Clarion Herald, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, which runs
St. Margaret's. 

"He's getting a kick out of his 15 minutes of fame," said Jason Hemel, St.
Margaret's chief operating officer. "I was joking with him about being a
celebrity with his picture on the front page of the Clarion Herald, and he
said, 'I'm today's Clark Gable. Don't you think I look like him?'¤" 

Ora Price, a receptionist at St. Margaret's, said Little took pleasure in
autographing copies of the newspaper for the staff and other residents. 

"He came in with two pens and said, 'I'm going to run out of ink,'¤" she
said. 

But Little is quick to temper his wisecracks with somber reflections about
the long list of names on the monument. 

"I just wish the rest could have gotten out," he said. "A lot of people
didn't make it, and I knew a good many of them."